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Family and friends create trustee scholarship in alumnus’ memory

February 6, 2014

Family and friends create trustee scholarship in alumnus’ memory

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Family and friends of late Penn State alumnus Kyle Johnson, Class of 2012, recently established a scholarship in his memory. The Kyle Chase Johnson Memorial Trustee Scholarship will provide financial support for students who are members of the Lion Ambassadors at Penn State, an organization in which Kyle participated as an undergraduate.

“Kyle loved Penn State and was a proud member of the Lion Ambassadors. Our family is pleased that this scholarship will provide support for students who share his love and commitment to Penn State,” said Dan Johnson, Class of 1980, Kyle’s father.

The Lion Ambassadors is a student organization that seeks to instill pride among the student body and promote the University within the Penn State community’s past, present and future students. Kyle was a proud member of the organization and served on its executive board as the director of internal relations.

“Kyle was a committed Lion Ambassador and dedicated Penn Stater,” said Ashley Martin, associate director for student involvement and Lion Ambassador adviser. “Having scholarship support for students who follow in Kyle’s footsteps is a fitting tribute to his memory and will allow many future Penn State students to have the same experiences Kyle cherished.”

Kyle Johnson was a 2008 graduate of North Allegheny High School where he was a senior member of the 2007 undefeated football team and sang in the Chamber Chorus. He graduated from the Smeal College of Business with a degree in accounting. Kyle’s mother, Mary Beth, Class of 1987, is also a Penn State alumna, and his brother, Seth, is currently a junior at the University.

As a Trustee Matching Scholarship, this fund will maximize the impact of private giving while directing funds to students as quickly as possible. For Trustee Scholarships established before the end of For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students, Penn State will provide an annual 10 percent match of the total pledge or gift. The University match, which is approximately double the endowment’s annual spendable income, continues in perpetuity, multiplying the support available for students with financial need significantly.

The Kyle Chase Johnson Memorial Trustee Scholarship will help Penn State reach its goals in For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students. This effort is directed toward a shared vision of Penn State as the most comprehensive, student-centered research university in America. The University is engaging Penn State’s alumni and friends as partners in achieving six key objectives: ensuring student access and opportunity, enhancing honors education, enriching the student experience, building faculty strength and capacity, fostering discovery and creativity and sustaining the University’s tradition of quality. The campaign’s top priority is keeping a Penn State degree affordable for students and families. The For the Future campaign is the most ambitious effort of its kind in Penn State’s history, with the goal of securing $2 billion by 2014.